Marketing, advertising & media intelligence

Two students from the Media Design School have taken out the top prize at the annual News Media student advertising competition.

‘Fight Climate Change with Change’, by Izzy Curran and Malik Benbrahim, hit the nail on the head according to the judges, and won the main brief category, taking home the cash prize.

The brief for this year was to create a brand campaign for Drive Electric, who have the goal to make electric vehicle ownership in New Zealand mainstream, with students creating work that showcased the advantages of electric vehicles and the associated benefits that support New Zealand’s action against climate change.

The brief called for innovation and integration across both print and digital news media platforms and attracted entries from Auckland University of Technology, Media Design School and the University of Otago’s Brandbach.

Diane Hannay, head of marketing for News Works, says it’s great to see so many students engaging with news media, with the competition attracting over 90 entries across two categories.

“With social media grabbing so much of this generation’s attention, we have an important role to play to ensure they understand that not everybody has the same media consumption habits as they do,” says Hannay.

Curran and Benbrahim’s campaign was highly praised by the creative judging panel of 12, who said it was a unanimous choice for first place.

"The insight, that it’s time to start using all the extra weather that climate change is causing to power electric cars really resonated with us – particularly given the extreme weather the world’s been experiencing this year”.

‘Drive Carbon Free’ by Brosnan Ackerman and Trudi Axtens from AUT received a special mention and was the runner-up campaign.

The top prize awarded in the 48-hour topical category was taken out this year by Ritwik Varma from AUT for his “Covfefe” execution.

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Matt West and the EightyOne team headed to SXSW with some of the Dot Loves Data folk and on return, they've put together their top five picks for rising, impressive and debatable trends as well as advice for what New Zealand marketers need to start doing.

A new campaign by Rogue Society Gin, via Motion Sickness, declares they have ‘made a name for themselves’ and the New Zealand company doesn’t just mean figuratively. After an international scuffle with an American brewing company that had a beer called 'Rogue', the company has rebranded to be Scapegrace Dry Gin to better promote its product overseas.

While Holden has earned a place in many New Zealanders' hearts, news that the General Motors-owned brand was stopping manufacturing in Australia last year led some to believe the brand was also on the way out. And as that misperception continued to grow, Holden has decided to face up to it and set the record straight with the help of Aussie actor Michael Caton.

Brand Spanking director and creative strategist Mark Pickering shares his experience at SXSW, what he's learned from sessions and seminars, as well as the people he's met. To round off the week, he and Z Energy creative technologist Spencer Willis share five takeaways.

Kiwibank and Banqer are on a quest to help Kiwi kids learn about the intricacies of financial literacy. The new online spot shows kids disclosing their finances - talking mortgages, insurance and loans.

Bcg2 and sustainability specialists Go Well Consulting have teamed up to launch 'Bags Not', a campaign aimed to minimise and eventually eliminate single-use use plastic bags, non-recyclable plastics and other plastic waste from the New Zealand environment. We take a look at the aim of the campaign, speak to TRA partner Karin Glucina about its behaviour-changing features, and see what other countries are doing to eliminate single-use plastic bags.

We sit down with Caroline Atford, executive director of media in Nielsen New Zealand, to get her thoughts on the changing media environment, how measurement products are working to keep up, metrics as a reflection of device use and how New Zealand sizes up to the rest of the world.

Whether you’re a suburban travel agent, a plumber or a hairdresser, customers now expect the same convenient and instant service they enjoy and expect from world-famous online stores and more local household brands. Xero executive general manager of customer success Nigel Piper takes a look at how small business owners can keep up.

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Why we like it: Many brands worldwide put out ads and campaigns in light of International Women's Day last week, some with questionable reasoning (looking at you McDonald's). It's great to see inspiration paired with action with this particular campaign, with women able to make a call to a respective leader to ask career questions or get advice about a particular field. With 17 leaders available, including author Joy Cowley and scientist Michelle Dickenson, we hope many Kiwi woman took up the opportunity to chat.

Who's it for: Bags Not by Bcg2 and Go Well Consulting

Why we like it: A campaign that wants to save the world is a good one in our books. The 'Bags Not' campaign encourages Kiwis to say no to plastic bags and supports them to change their single-use habits. Short and sweet and not too preachy, the ad uses celebrities such as artist Dick Frizell and writer and TV presenter, Jaquie Brown to help Kiwi consumers make a behaviour change. However, the proof will be in the pudding to see if Kiwis can cut down on the 1.6 billion single-use plastic bags used each year.

Who’s it for: BNZ by Colenso BBDO

Why we like it: This is the second phase of BNZ’s ‘Bank of You’ and it continues the focus on community and empathy. Featuring different communities in different situations the ad shows banking is more than just suits and spreadsheets. From flower shops to friends, New Zealanders are diverse and so are their interests.